Comments on: Web pages, more fonts & what you need

By: Leon

Leon — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:23:35 +0000

@inspirationbit

Skolar is not a free font, is it?

Nope, it's $149 (I'll amend the text). Oops. (And thanks!) I see you've twitted about a free font called Calluna: there's quite a few to try; I may introduce something here just to dip my toe in the water.

By: Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:20:54 +0000

I’m happy the @font-face tag is showing up in the latest generation of browsers. More power over type on the web is a good thing, even if at first there will be abuses. Just like with Flash, the newness will eventually wear off, and us web folks will just have another tool to add that last bit of detail to our designs.

By: Daus

Daus — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:16:31 +0000

I think it’s all about searching for possibilities in technology. You don’t have to use it if it doesn’t fit in you.

But I think it’s nice to see beautiful fonts applied to the web, though :)

By: inspirationbit

inspirationbit — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:14:15 +0000

Instead of worrying about the licensing perhaps we should use free fonts like Skolar

Skolar is not a free font, is it?

I think that those who’re good at Web Typography will benefit from having more font choices available, those who suck at it would obviously fail with more font choices as well.
I also agree with Leon that those offering free fonts that are optimized for Web would win the battle of font-faces.

By: Leon

Leon — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:53:26 +0000

I guess it’s the old adage: just because you can use it doesn’t mean you should.

The best design uses these effects to make the user’s experience a better one; sometimes it’s difficult to admit that you don’t need much because the result can look a bit bare. But if it works…

There’s also probably an element of resistance on my part as I’m so used to using a handful of fonts.

Also, I’m not so sure that the best typographers are necessarily the only ones willing to pay for fonts. Not sure how it will pan out — I think if you’re offering free fonts you’re probably about to get a lot more exposure.

By: Paulo Pereira

Paulo Pereira — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:08:12 +0000

I completely agree with you, Leon.

Some time ago, photoshop effects were everywhere. Reflections, shadows, glows, stripes, etc. And everyone started to hate it because “designers” used that just because they could.

I believe this will happen with a more open web, not only in terms of web fonts. CSS3 features may become the next “photoshop effects”. I do believe, however, that paid web fonts like Typekit would be great, because the ones who are willing to pay for typography are usually the ones who know how to do it.